Retrogeno, 2007. ICA commission. ICA bar, London.
2m high x 8m long, inkjet print, stretched on canvas frame.

Retrogeno superimposes a generic West coast 50's type pattern onto a fiction of a modified DNA strand. This 'wallpaper' follows on from ideas of teleporting or superimposing different places and eras. The effect in the space is subtly transformative as it shifts what the ICA bar could represent. For example a reading of the ICA as something that is trying to be 'jazzy' would in fact be at odds with it's contemporary nature. This is a deliberate juxtaposition that may or maybe not be legible. In fact the pattern maybe be taken at face value. Regardless, the image plays with notions of 'retro' in contemporary culture and if that retro is situated inside or outside of irony.

Detail, below, showing DNA pattern, chromosomes and random code markings.

Right image: Sanjay Kalideen